Window structure



June 11, 1957 E. P. FEY EIAL WINDOW STRUCTURE Filed Oct. 7, 1953 F xe4 /M P y, James Roz-H,

JNVENTORs.

/ rraQA/Ey United States Patent "O WINDOW STRUCTURE Ephraim P. Fey, Glendale, and James P. Roth, Los Angeles, Calif assignors to Hehr Manufacturing Company, a corporation of California Application October 7, 1953, Serial No. 384,634

1 Claim. (Cl. 18978) This invention relates generally to window and door structures and is concerned more particularly, with an improved means for mounting a pane of glass in a window sash or door frame.

It is common practice in the building materials art to provide Window sashes and doors of the glazed types, that is, closures having sheets or panes of glass installed therein. When the window or door is of a wooden type, the pane of glass usually fits within a groove provided in the outer faces of the top and bottom rails and stiles, the edges of the glass being retained in place by glaziers points and putty. In more modern windows and doors of the metal types, the panes of glass are installed against the outer sides of flanges formed integrally with the rails and stiles, metal mounting or retainer strips or bars being held in engagement with the outer sides of the edge portions of the panes by screws, the retainer bars serving to lightly compress sealing strips against the opposite sides of the glass to effect a weather-proof joint.

Such conventional methods of and means for mounting panes of glass in sashes have several dis-advantages. For example, when the pane of glass is held in place by glaziers points and putty, the latter tends to harden to the point where it becomes brittle so that it cracks and breaks, due to sudden temperature changes and impacts imparted to the sash when opening and closing the window or door. This condition results in leakage of air into the building and it is therefore necessary to re-putty the sash at frequent intervals.

While the means heretofore employed for setting panes of glass in metal sashes is quite effective in retaining the glass in place and avoiding ingress of air into the building, application of the panes of glass, retaining strips and sealing strips involves a time-consuming and relatively expensive procedure which is reflected in the over-all cost of the window or door structure.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a window, door or like closure embodying a novel and ingenious retainer means for securely holding a pane of glass in place in the sash or frame.

Another object of the invention is to provide a retainer means which is readily applied without the use of screws or other extraneous fasteners, putty or other caulking material, and without the-use of tools.

Another object of the invention is to provide a retainer means for the purpose indicated which consists of a strip of somewhat resilient material, said strip being in the form of a clip which is adapted to be snapped into place between the sash or frame and the edge portion of the glass to yieldingly force the pane against the inner flanges of the rails and stiles, there being a sealing strip interposed between the glass and the flange to produce a weather-tight connection.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cliplike retainer strip which consists of a vertical portion or leg adapted to engage against the outer surface of the glass, and a second, inclined leg sloping downwardly and outwardly from the upper end of the vertical leg, said ice second leg being engageable with the window sash or door frame to maintain the vertical leg in firm engagement with the pane of glass,

Another object of the invention is to provide an angular retainer strip, of the character referred to, which includes a substantially laterally bent detent or locking portion in the form of a narrow flange or foot engageable across the edge of the glass to lock the retainer strip in place and to locate and support the pane relative to the opening in the window or door.

Another object of the invention is to provide a glassmounting means, of the type referred to, in which the window or door frame has a small bead adjacent its outer side, said bead having a detent notch or groove therein for receiving the free end of the sloping leg of the retainer strip, the combined engagement of the sloping leg in this notch and the foot of the vertical leg against the edge of the glass serving to hold the retainer strip firmly in place to resist shocks which may occur when the window or door is slammed violently or when the same is installed'in a mobile trailer and is subject to shaking or vibrating due to road conditions.

A further object of the invention is to provide a glassmounting meanswhich consists of a plurality of the retainer strips, each extending along an edge of the glass, the strips being separately applied and meeting at the corners of the sash in mitered joints.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a glass retaining means which is extremely simple in construction, the strip being adapted for economical mass production and installation without the need for screws or other fastening devices and without the use of tools, the retainer strip further resembling a molding surround ing the edge of the glass to greatly enhance the appearance of the sash as a whole. I

' Further objectsof the invention will appear from the following description'and from the accompanying drawing, which is intended for the purpose of illustration only, and in which: a

Fig. l is an outside, elevational view of the lower portion of a hinged window structure embodying the present, improved glass-mounting means;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view, taken on line 2 --2 of Fig. 1;

I Fig. 3 is a further enlarged, fragmentary, cross-sectional view of the glass-holding means, illustrating the manner of installing the retainer strip; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of one of the retainer strips.

In the following description and appended claims, the terms -sash and frame are intended to include any closure structure in which a pane of glass is installed. Since windows and doors are analogous, the invention is herein descirbed as incorporated in a window structure, by way of example.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the glass-mounting meansis illustrated as embodied in a metal window sash or frame 10, only the bottom rail 11 and stiles 12 thereof being shown. The rail 11 and stiles 12 are alike in construction, each being preferably an aluminum extrusion of substantially Z shape. Each section 11, 12 has an inner flange 14 providing a seat against which a pane of glass 15 is adapted to rest, a strip 16 of insulating and sealing material being interposed between the flange, and glass. ing parallel to the flange 14 and an intermediate connecting web 18. At the intersection between the web 18 and outer flange 17, the Z section is provided with a bead 19 having a notch or groove 20 therein facing the inner flange 14.

The window sash 10 is employed for closing the opening of a metal window casing 25 fitted within an open- Each section also has an outer flange 17 extend bottom, top and vertical side "sections of substantially Z shape, these sections being suitably joined together at the corners to provide the casing or frame. As shown in Fig. 2, each section of the casing has inner and outer portions 26 and 27 joinedby an intcrmediate aortion 28. The inner portion 26 has a recess 29 in'which-an edge of an insect screen 30 is held with'thescreen extending across the frame, inwardly of the window. I The outer portion 27 carries a resilient tubular sealing element 31 which is engaged by an inturned bead 32 at the free end of the flange 17 of the sash. The window herein illustrated is of the hinged or casement type and is hingedly connected to the casing 25 as indicated at 33.

As previously explained, the pane of glass 15 is disposed against the sealing strip 16 and flange '14 of each section of the window sash 10. In "accordance with the present invention, the glass 15is retained in place by means of retainer elements 40, one extending along each section of the window sash.

Each retainer element 40 consists of a suitable length of a rolled or stamped sheet metal strip of generally angular cross sectional shape. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the strip 40 has a first, relatively short, inner vertical leg 41 and a second, relatively long, inclined leg 42 which slopes downwardly and outwardly from the upper end of the leg 41 to provide an included angle of approximately 45 degrees. At the lower end of the inner leg 41 is a small flange or detent portion 43 which may slope downwardly and inwardly, forming an obtuse angle of about 135 with the inner leg 41, as shown.

To install the window pane 15, the sash is placed upon a table or other horizontal surface and the glass is placed therein, against the sealing strip 16. The retainer strips 40 then are placed within the sash as shown by full lines in Fig. 3 to hold the glass in place. To apply each strip 40, the edge of its leg 42 is first inserted into the notch or groove 20 of the sash 10, after which the strip is pivoted from the brokenline position of Fig. 3 toward the pane of glass with'the groove serving as a fulcrum.

During continued pivotal movement of the strip in this direction, the edge of the detent flange 43 rides along the outer surface of the glass and eventually snaps across the edge of the glass, at'which time the inner leg 41 comes to rest against the glass as shown by full'lines. With the retainer strip thus disposed, its outer leg 42 may assume a slightly bowed condition to resiliently force the pane of glass against the sealing strip 16. At the same time, the detent flange 43, through its engagement with the edge of the glass, serves to etfectively resist reverse pivotal movement of the retainer strip so that the latter is positively locked in its operative position to prevent its displacement when the'window structure is subjected to shocks and this is important where the window is installed in a mobile house trailer. By the use of our window retaining means, the glass may have lirr'iited movement in the direction of its plane so as to absorb such shocks.

The retainer strips 40 extending along the top, bottom and sides of the window meet in mitered corners 45 (Fig. 1) so as to give theappearance of a continuous, rectangular frame. Due to the inclined leg 42, the retainer means provides, in etfect, a molding which greatly enhances the appearance of the window structure and provides a sloping surface which serves to deflect rainwater outwardly. The retainer strip preferably is made from aluminum alloy or stainless steel toavoid rusting.

.ing in a building wall 24. The casing'25 consists of In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, we have described the principle of our invention, together with the construction and arrangement which we now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, but we desire to have it understood that the retainer means shown is only illustrative and that the invention may be carried out by modified means without departing from the spirit of the invention. Consequently, we do not wish to limit ourselves in this respect, but desire to be afforded the full scope of the appended claim.

We claim as our invention:

A window structure comprising a sash frame of substantially Z-shaped cross-section having elongated substantially fiat inner and outer parallel flanges disposed in spaced relation one above the other, and an elongated substantially flat web interconnecting said parallel flanges and disposed at substantially right angles to each of said flanges, the elongated junction between said web and said outer flange including an elongated bead upstanding from the plane of said web, the outer surface of said bead being substantially coplanar with the outer surface of said outer flange and the inner surface of said bead defining an elongated recessed groove facing said inner flange and disposed adjacent the junction of said head and said web, said inner flange defining a window opening in said sash frame, a pane extending across said window opening, an elongated strip of insulating and sealing material disposed between said inner flange and said pane, an elongated retainer strip of angular cross-section for supporting said pane Within said frame in forcible contact with said insulating and sealing strip and maintaining said pane in freely spaced relation to said web, said retainer strip including a first elongated flat leg of resilient material having a first elongated edge thereof inserted into said recessed groove, said first leg extending in substantially planar configuration between said groove and said pane at an acute angle to the plane of said web, the width of said first leg being such that said first resilient leg is slightly resiliently bowed between said groove and said pane thereby to impose a positive resilient restraining force upon said pane, a second elongated flat leg disposed at an acute angle to-said first leg and having a first elongated edge thereof integrally formed with the second elongated edge of said first leg thereby to form a first elongated retainer-strip junction extending along said pane in spaced relation to the -free edges of said pane, said second leg extending from said first elongated retainer strip junction to the edges of said pane and being disposed in direct planar contiguity with said pane thereby to apply the resilient restraining force produced by said first leg directly tosaid pane, and an elongated planar detent flange integrally attached to the second elongated edge of said second leg and extending at an obtuse angle to the plane of said second leg, whereby said second leg and said planar detent flange form a second elongated retainer strip junction extending adjacent the free edges of said pane, and said detent flange extends from said second elongated retainer strip junction in spaced relation to the free edges of said pane as well as in spaced relation to said web and sash frame flanges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,151,571 Day Aug. 31, 1915 2,114,791 Williams Apr. 19, 1938 2,119,685 Peremi ct al June 7, 1938 2,453,343 Reilly Nov. 9, 1948 2,638,191 Menosky May 12, 1953 

